under his watch improved things or left taxpayers more vulnerable than ever. the economy is not in free-fall, nor are the markets frozen, as many describe the financial crisis timothy geithner faced when he became treasury secretary as president obama was sworn into office the first time. finance professor dale rosenthal says government- directed taxpayer bailouts helped stabilize the economy. "instead of a big drop, we saw a softer landing but a longer recovery." under secretary geithner, the treasury department participated in bank bailouts despite risky gambles that led to the subprime mortgage collapse. critics say that under giethner, there was no assurance that banks would use their money to lend to business and homeowners. "there was no reportability, no accountability, it was just, 'give me the money and i'll save us.'" "the one part of the stimulus that worked was the money to state and local governments that went to teachers, firefighters, city workers. if that hadn't happened, unemployment would've been significantly worse." there were more bailouts. geithner oversaw $182 bil
